About NCCN

New! Monthly Oncology Tumor Board Series

James Prazak, RPh, Director, Continuing Education and Grants

Starting May 23, 2013, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is offering a series of 12 multidisciplinary case-based webinars on a variety of topics, including follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), multiple myeloma, triple negative breast cancer, hormone sensitive breast cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, advanced adenocarcinoma of the lung, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, and kidney cancer. Each webinar will be facilitated by two faculty members from NCCN Member Institutions, to provide multidisciplinary perspectives, including, but not limited to, pathology, medical oncology, surgical oncology, and radiation oncology. A different topic will be presented each month for 12 months, beginning May 2013. The Monthly Oncology Tumor Board Series is part of an overall strategy to further engage learners.*

Since patients are heterogeneous, patient management should also be individualized. The cases in this webinar are designed to highlight significant clinical decision points concerning treatment selection, toxicity management, and areas of recent change or controversy in the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), while reinforcing emerging data from clinical trials. This webinar will allow learners to understand how to apply the standards of care to their practice and health care setting.

Studies show that triple negative breast cancers (negative for hormone receptors and HER2) have a significantly more aggressive clinical course with increased rates of local recurrence and distant metastases, compared with other breast cancer types. Effective targeted breast cancer strategies, including endocrine agents and HER2-cirected therapies, are not active against these tumors. In the NCCN Guidelines®, systemic chemotherapy is often recommended to prevent a recurrence of disease. Selecting an appropriate therapy is a challenge.**

The NCCN Guidelines are a comprehensive set of guidelines detailing the sequential management decisions and interventions for 97 percent of malignant cancers. In addition, separate guidelines have been created related to major prevention and screening topics, and a third set focuses on the major supportive care areas. The NCCN Guidelines are comprised of recommendations based on the best evidence available at the time they are derived. Because new data are published continuously, it is essential that the NCCN Guidelines also be continuously updated and revised to reflect new data and new clinical information The goal of the NCCN Guidelines is to help oncologists make the major clinical decisions encountered in managing their patients by proving ready access to synthesized information. The NCCN Guidelines provide recommendations for appropriate care for most, but not all patients; however, individual patient circumstances must be considered when applying these recommendations. This activity series will discuss the specific recommendations in the NCCN Guidelines, as well as unique patient circumstances that impact how the NCCN Guidelines might be best applied.